Here I am!

Miss me? No? Geez.

I've been super-busy lately, so let me recap on everything, even the unimportant stuff:

1. Our refrigerator was broken for 2 weeks. We finally got our new one Thursday and I've rarely appreciated anything so much. It's a shiny black side-by-side with ice and water in the door. I love it, mostly because it keeps my food cold and I don't have to go out on the front porch to get my soup out of the cooler.

2. Mark was out of town and then came back and got really, really sick with a terrible cold. My two work neighbors had had it and had been coughing like crazy for a week and a half, so I figured I was a goner. I tried to keep my hands really clean, and my home, too. Mark had a miraculous recovery after two days and I still have no signs of illness! Yay!

3. For reasons in number 2, our Christmas stuff has yet to be put away. Mark is going out of town again, and so our very large tree will stay up another week. Boo.

4. I am learning to spin yarns, literally. I have a friend who just retired from my workplace. She lives in San Ysidro on a little property with 2 sheep, 1 horse, 1 dog, 2 cats and a bunch of chickens. She invited me over for a lesson. I had a lovely time. She taught me a few spinning basics using a drop spindle. It's, um, really hard. It's an ancient technology, but it's something that must be mastered. It involves a stick that goes through the center of a circle of wood. You let it hang from the yarn that goes up into the wool roving and you give the spindle a whirl. As it spins, you try to pull the wool bit by bit and let the spin move up into it, making yarn. It's not easy. Every time I get it spinning and move my right hand up to help my left hand, the spindle tries to go the other way, thus untwisting what I have. Of course, having a spinning wheel makes it much easier. They are expensive and Mark said that since I'm not 90, I don't need one and I should find hobbies that aren't for old ladies. And I took care of him when he was sick!

5. I plan to also learn to dye wool roving and yarn.

6. I made felt from wool roving and am making a brooch from it. I will be posting to describe this exciting process after the brooch is finished.

That's a wrap up of my life! I've just been so busy that I haven't had time to sew much.